1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is broadly concerned with dispensing cells useful in automated dispensing equipment and especially medicament dispensing devices. More particularly, the invention is concerned with such dispensing cells which are improved by provision of an adjustable, restricted throat forming a part of the pathway between the storage section and outlet opening of the housing; the throat section is defined by a pair of adjacent components, one of such components being an obliquely oriented roller sized and located to assist in the passage of medicaments or the like through the throat while preventing simultaneous passage of multiple medicaments through the throat.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,919 describes an automatic dispensing machine having a plurality of dispensing cells for storing and dispensing of various types of solid medicament dosage forms. Each cell includes a rotatable platen serving to move the dosage forms through and out of the cell. A manipulator arm forming a part of the dispensing machine retrieves an empty vial and positions the vial adjacent the outlet of a selected cell. The manipulator arm includes a drive gear which engages the platen gear in order to rotate the platen and thereby initiate dispensing of medicaments. The filled vial is then positioned on a discharge conveyor for subsequent handling such as labeling and inspection.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 5,895,024 describes an improved dispensing cell used in such automated equipment. The cells of the ""024 patent are a significant advance in the art and have achieved considerable commercial success. However, in certain instances, these cells have experienced problems. For example, medicaments sometimes become lodged between the storage sections and the outlet sections of these cells, requiring an operator to either manually remove the lodged medicaments or to reverse the rotation of the platen in an attempt to clear the obstruction. Another problem is that stacked pairs of medicaments may be simultaneously passed through and out of the cell. This can disrupt the count or lead to breakage of the medicaments.
There is accordingly a need in the art for an improved dispensing cell, which more effectively transfers medicaments out of the cell without medicaments becoming lodged or clogged and that substantially eliminates the problem of simultaneous passage of stacked medicaments through the cell.
The present invention overcomes the problems outlined above and provides a dispensing cell for dispensing medicaments (e.g., tablets, capsules, caplets, or pills) or other discrete bodies. The cell includes a housing having a storage section that holds the medicaments, a dispensing outlet, and a passageway between the storage sections and the outlet. Moreover, the cell includes a conveyor assembly that conveys the medicaments from the storage section through the passageway and out the outlet; the conveyor assembly is preferably in the form of a ribbed, rotatable platen. The passageway has a restricted throat section between the storage section of the housing and the housing outlet. This throat section is defined by a pair of spaced apart components, one of which is an inclined roller presenting an upper margin and a lower margin. The roller is oriented so that the upper margin is closer to the other component than the lower margin thereof, thereby preventing simultaneous passage of two of the medicaments through the throat section.
In preferred forms, the other components forming the restricted throat section is a rotatable bushing having a resilient outer surface. The bushing is preferably coaxial with the axis of rotation of the platen. Downstream of the throat section a pair of resilient fingers are provided which urge the medicaments against a guide wall, so that the medicaments are properly aligned and separated for single file passage out of the housing outlet.